Louisiana Purchase and Lewis & Clark Books

Mintz's fascinating historical and anthropological study traces the journey of sugar from a rare and valuable luxury spice to an indispensable everyday consumer product. Mintz ably tells the remarkable story of how sweetness, and our desire to taste it, has profoundly shaped the world we live in.

Trinidadian C.L.R. James was perhaps the best scholar to emerge from the Caribbean in the 20th Century, and this classic history of the Haitian Revolution remains indispensable nearly seventy years after its first publication. James's lively writing and incisive Marxian analysis make sense of the dizzying series of twists and turns that roiled Saint-Domingue between 1791 and 1804. Anyone interested in learning more about one of the most astounding events in human history should start here.

If the Haitian Revolution was indeed one of the most astounding events in human history, how come so many of us know so little about it? Haitian scholar Michel-Rolph Trouillot explores the question of why some past events are enshrined in our historical narratives, while others—like the Haitian Revolution—are largely forgotten ("silenced"). Engages deeply with postmodernist theory without ever becoming unreadable; that alone makes this slim volume very much worth exploring.

Kennedy's book is a bit of a mess in terms of organization, but is still worthwhile for its deep exploration of the tragedy inherent in Thomas Jefferson, who dreamed of an expansive yeoman's republic but paved the way for the expansion of slaveocracy.